First swim lessons!!

What better way to spend Taylor's last day as a one-year old (have I mentioned that her second birthday is tomorrow?!) than to start swim lessons! The water has always been a big part of my life, so of course we want to get Taylor in the water, too!

Taylor's best buddy, Ty, is swimming with her, too, which is so much fun! (Taylor may be a little smitten with Ty - she has SO much fun with him!! :o))

Honestly, I was a little nervous how Taylor would do. She loves bath time, likes to wade in water at the beach, has fun at the splash zone, but when it comes to deeper water, she is a little more cautious.

But Taylor did GREAT! She went into the water without any issue (which was probably partly due to the fantastically warm water and the fact that she just wanted to go where Ty went) - and had a fun time during the lesson!

Ty and Taylor getting ready to go

"Let's do this" - pound it out :o)

Getting started

Splashing (one of the first activities involved "The Wheels on the Bus" song - a favorite of Tay's)

Getting ready to "blast" off the wall - Taylor really liked launching off the wall with her feet

Swim, swim, swim!

Kick, kick, kick!

Always fun to swim with friends!

It will be a fun few weeks, and a great way to spend some special time with Taylor before her little sister arrives!

New bedding (better sleep??)

When we transitioned Taylor to a regular bed, we bought her a down comforter because she loves the one on our bed. It took a while to find a cover for it that I liked, but it finally arrived this week.

Helping me get her bed ready - this girl loves her blankets and stuffed animals

Beds are for more than just sleeping right??
Like playing,

Reading,

and JUMPING! :o)

Up until now, we just had Taylor sleeping on top of the covers with random blankets, but now that we had sheets and a cover that I liked, she slept under the sheets for the first time last night.

Possibly a coincidence, but she went down without a peep -  and slept through the night, too! Lately, our bedtime routine has been a bit...unpredictable? Some nights we put her down, and she either cries really hard right away, or will fuss after having been down for a bit (and then there are nights where she says, "bye-bye, mama" and doesn't make a sound). I end up going in if she cries hard or long enough because she gets so hot and worked up. Eye teeth are coming through - so it is possible that she is struggling with teething for the first time? Usually new teeth come in without any issue, so this would be new territory for us. Also, once or twice a week, we will wake up to her crying in the night - but usually I don't have to intervene and she falls back asleep on her own.

They say the one thing we can count on in life is change, right?

So bedtime used to be a breeze, and it may have changed, BUT we can count on the fact that this will probably be just a stage and will change again, and hopefully we can go back to our drama free bedtime routine. :o) (Sidenote: with the new basement play area where Taylor LOVES to run, run, run, we are thinking that we need to build in more wind-down time before bedtime because she never tires of playing down there and it makes it harder for her to go to sleep if we stay down until right before we want to get her to bed. Seems pretty obvious, but usually we could play, play play, and it wouldn't matter before.)

So here is to change, cozy beds, and better sleep...hopefully for all. :o)

30 weeks!

Biggest thing at 30 weeks...

**Baby's growing!!  Feeling a bit more of that fatigue at the end of the day, and the back and legs are thankful for the moments when I get to sit down. Still running, but it definitely causes more soreness the next day.

**Hiccups, kicking, rolling, stretching - in short, LOTS of movement! Braxton Hicks are a daily occurrence, as well as random moments of more intense pressure. Dr. Z says this is usually more noticeable with each pregnancy, and I would have to agree at this point!

Each appointment continues to go really well. Measuring right on for 30 weeks, baby girl is in a head down position right now, heart rate was around 148 bpm, and she gave Dr. Z a few good kicks to show off, too. :o) Appointments are every 2 weeks now, which makes this pregnancy seem really far along - only a few more appointments, and then we go in every week until the big day!

Picture of the belly - decided to break out the pink tank that I wore for most of the pictures during my pregnancy with Taylor! I didn't have a 30 week picture from the first time around, but at 32 weeks I will have to do a side-by-side shot to see how these two pregnancies are comparing so far... :o)

Taylor saying hi and giving little sister a kiss :o)

Love both our little girls!!!

A beautiful February weekend!

This winter has certainly been different. Just last week we hit a record high for temperature, when it does snow - it lasts no more than a few days, and we have had so much sunshine lately that I almost forget what regular Michigan winters are like.

This weekend was one of the beautiful sunny stretches of weather that we have enjoyed - making it seem more like early spring than the middle of winter.

I never think to take a camera to the park, so we have to rely on our phone cameras instead...and only two pictures quickly captured...

Taylor wasn't interested in stopping for pictures anyway :o)

Today was another gorgeous day. Before her nap after we got home from church, Taylor was having fun with Mr. Duck. The previous post showed a video of her reading to Mr. Duck, and here are a few pictures that Ryan captured as well.

When did Taylor get to be such a big girl? (If you can't tell, this momma was resting her back from the pressure of a 30 week preggo belly during these pictures :o))

It was such a nice, pretty relaxing, weekend - hopefully the weatherman will just keep 'em coming!!

Reading and Counting

Taylor had some fun after church today reading to Mr. Duck. So sweet.... :o) And we have been working really hard on counting, and she can consistently count to 6 (sometimes up to 10) now! We actually managed to have the video camera charged (a common issue when we have when we want to use it!) so we could capture these fun moments!

Don't you just love the sound of a toddler counting and getting used to saying new words?! (BTW - "bow, bow" is Taylor's version of "meow, meow" for a cat) :o)

Life with an almost 2 year old

Around this time of year, I can't help but think about what we were doing and thinking about 2 years ago, as we were only about 2 weeks away from Taylor's due date. We were still eating dinner on the couch together, feet up on the coffee table, usually watching the news or catching up on old seasons of the Office or Mad Men. Our mornings were pretty relaxed as we went through our own routines. Evenings and weekends were open to whatever, without much planning ahead needed. Once February hit, each day we did the same routine, but I also had this feeling of anticipation/excitement because any day we could go into labor! I left school each day wondering if I would be back the next day, and tried to leave things in order as much as possible.

Two years later, we eat dinner as a family at the table every night. We each have our responsibilities in the morning (Ryan gets Taylor up and changes her diaper/gets her dressed, while I pack her bags for daycare and get her breakfast ready) to help us all get out the door on time. Life is planned around Taylor's sleep schedule, and we have to think through outings a little more carefully with a toddler in tow.

We have realized how much responsibility you take on in every day life with a little one around, but we also acknowledge how much more fun Taylor has brought to our life, too. You get to revert back to being a kid more often! :o)

Last weekend we got almost a foot of snow in a mere few hours Sunday morning.  Although we still had the adult responsibilities of shoveling and clearing the driveway and sidewalk, we also got to go out and play a bit, too! Snow = sledding again!

Taking a walk through the deep snow...Taylor saying, "Go, mama!" She has a habit of also saying "weeeee!!" as we walk along, which cracks me up :)

Reading stories before bed is also one of those fun parts of being a parent - I LOVE reading books, especially ones like "Goodnight Moon" that we used to read when I was a little kid.

Last, I just have to include this picture from last weekend. We went out to eat on a Friday evening. (Taylor does really well in restaurants, especially if we have a booth so she doesn't have to sit in a high chair) She just LOVED the soup I got with my meal.
Eating at the table like a big girl (love those blue eyes :))

So two years ago, life may have been different, but I would not change what we have now for anything. And although baby #2 will change life drastically again, I anticipate that there will be extra FUN involved with having TWO, and can't wait to experience what that will be like!

Typical Friday Feeling

By Friday, this reflects exactly how I feel...

sleepy...

and ready to snuggle with blankets.

Our little lady was tired tonight - pj's on before 7 and ready for bed! She loves sleep as much as mama does. :o)